Kerry prepares for fifteen minutes that could decide the election

[JoFerret]

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=565764

[napi21]

1. Interesting article for a foreign paper.

too bad the UK even thinks that Shrub has the big upper hand here.

[Cha]

2. When I went on I couldn' t link..

bush has the "upper hand" in the debates???

[napi21]

4. Here, I copied the sentence I was referring to.

(snip)
This week, a solid performance by Mr Bush would probably finish off his Democratic challenger, already lagging in the polls and far behind the President in voters' assessment of who is best able to "keep the country safe" - the central subject of the evening.
(end)

Isn't that what it sounds like to you???

[arikara]

3. Bill Moyers did a segment on the debates last night

and just how scripted and unspontaneous they actually are. Both parties/candidates should be embarassed about the whole thing but they probably aren't.

http://www.pbs.org/now/

[napi21]

7. I agree, they both should be embarrassed!

It's too damn bad none of the candidates have the ba**s to just be themselves and answer the questions that are asked! I'd prefer them asking questions of each other!!! They still did that in the Ga. primary debates that were televised on PBS here. I though it was great! It gave you a real glimpse of how each candidate thinks and reacts in impromptu situations.

I'm really tired of scripted stuff everywhere! Damn it, lets dig up Harry Truman!!!!!

[Rochambeau]

5. Get rid of that "The 32-page "memorandum of understanding" ",

organize a true debate and Bush is toast. Honestly and, be sure, with no offense or arrogance, that kind of joke of a debate is absolutely unsaleable to any european audience IMO.

[Flammable Materials]

6. These are not debates. There are no debates. Debates are dead.

Everything is programmed.

Everything is pre-planned.

Everything is pre-screened.

Everything is cleared by the censors.

You will see nothing that they do not want you to see.

You will hear nothing that they do not want you to hear.

You will see and hear what they want you to see and hear.

You will do as you are told.

We are at war with Eastasia.

We have always been at war with Eastasia.

[TroglodyteScholar]

8. war is peace (eom)

[fujiyama]

18. Freedom is slavery.

[Ohio rules]

20. Ignorance is Bliss

had to throw that catchy one liner in...
From the ministry of truth....

[Larkspur]

9. The debates don't matter. It's the post-debate Media pundits spin job

that will skewer Kerry, just like they did to Gore, who won all 3 debates. Maybe, this time people will ignore the Media hyenas, but those hyenas will aggressively keep repeating their scripts about Kerry and Bush til the election and beyond.

[Brundle_Fly]

10. maybe the shrub

will mention spreading his love into the women of America, so something equally studid....

I hope there is at least one question he isn't prepared for, ie: the whole "any mistakes, I may have made..." or the classic, sovereignty comment...

ohhh I hope, I hope...

[Isere]

11. Yes, Larkspur

you have it down right!
The august punditocracy will declare the winner.

(are you in Larkspur? If so, you are a lucky ducky!)

[Larkspur]

23. What do you mean?

(are you in Larkspur? If so, you are a lucky ducky!)

[sally343434]

12. WOW!

Jeezz Cripes! Aren't we just raising expectations a little here? Where the hell did this come from?

On the one hand, they raise expectations so high for Kerry that he'd have to elevate the fucking stage with a chant to get any attention at all.

On the other hand, the expectations for Bush are so low that he'll be worshipped as a god if he doesn't squat and pop four turds on the stage! (Three or less would be heralded as his magnificent compassion.)

There's just so much wrong with this story, I have to wonder just what is going on here. The Independent almost never publishes this crap.

[Merlin]

13. What's the deal with the 15 minutes part?

I thought the debates would be at least an hour.

[Whoa_Nelly]

14. Each debate is 90 minutes

http://www.debates.org/pages/news_040921.html
The Commission on Presidential Debates

[Kimber Scott]

15. They said the debates are won, or lost, in the first 15 minutes.

Kind of like a first impression thing, I guess.

[Democat]

16. Bush "compromised" by doing what he was supposed to do in the first place

Kerry actually compromised, Bush got almost everything he wanted by saying he wanted more at first, as usual. Republicans are much better at playing these games than we are.

[AndyTiedye]

17. Boosh Doesn't Need Any Debates -- WE DO

Because Kerry has been facing a near-blackout by the media.
The debates are the only chance he will have to talk to the voters
for more than 30 seconds at a time. Of course, we are also hoping
against hope that people will resist the inevitable media spin in
the reporting of the debates.

The unfavorable terms under which the debates will be taking place
are a measure of how desperately we need them.

[Paradise]

21. The bottom line

How many sheep,
how many free-thinkers,
how 'imperfect' the election.

Can sheep ever think freely,
can free-thinkers ever march to the same drummer,
can elections ever be 'perfect'.
:puffpiece:



"And thus I clothe my naked villany
With odd old ends stol'n out of holy writ,
And seem a saint, when most I play the devil."

Written by Shakespeare, Played by *

[MaineDem]

19. From the article:

George Bush and John Kerry are in purdah this weekend, intensely prepping for next Thursday's first presidential debate - a showdown on terrorism, Iraq and national security at the University of Miami which might settle the outcome of the 2 November election.

To be sure, the word "debate" is something of a misnomer. The rules have been worked out with the stifling precision of a superpower arms pact. The two candidates will not be able to question each other directly, and will not be allowed within a certain distance of each other. Anyone looking for spontaneity, and real intellectual cut and thrust, is likely to be disappointed.

...

Already the bizarre ritual of lowering expectations is in full swing. Listen to each side, and their man is sure to lose. Democrats who normally deride Bush as an inarticulate buffoon now hail him as the finest public speaker since Demosthenes. The Bush campaign plays the same game, building up John Kerry as a surefire winner - "the greatest debater since Cicero" in the words of a straight-faced Matthew Dowd, a chief Bush/ Cheney strategist.

Both sides, however, have good reason for caution. Mr Kerry is indeed a pretty competent debater, fast on his feet and a formidable marshaller of an argument. Democrats are only too well aware that Mr Bush is all too easily underestimated - just ask Al Gore. No one ever disputed Mr Bush's folksy charm. But articulateness is another matter. A single unmangled sentence thus counts as a mighty victory

[robbedvoter]

22. Note the importance of the 1st one - and the cancellation rumors

"The Kerry team, however, agreed to move up national security, Mr Bush's strongest issue, to the first debate, always the most watched and most influential."

better than terra alert?